During the third day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, House Democrats in the Senate argued that his acquittal would raise the potential for him to incite violence again in the future.
According to The Hill, Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, argued that Trump's pattern of incitement, which Democrats say led a mob to attack the Capitol on January 6, would resume if he were to become president again.
"My dear colleagues, is there any political leader in this room who believes that if he is ever allowed by the Senate to get back into the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get his way?... Would you bet the lives of more police officers on that? Would you bet the safety of your family on that? Would you bet the future of your democracy on that?" Raskin asked.
On Thursday, the final day of their arguments, the managers highlighted how, throughout his presidency, Trump repeatedly sided with or was slow to condemn violent actors like now-Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a reporter while running for the House in 2017, or protesters who stormed the Michigan state Capitol to oppose a stay-at-home order last year, The Hill reported.
They further claimed that the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from ratifying President Joe Biden's election victory believed he backed halting the proceedings by force.
"We humbly, humbly, ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of. Because if you don't, if we pretend this didn't happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who's to say it won't happen again?" said House impeachment manager Joe Neguse in his closing remarks.
Meanwhile, Representative Ted Lieu rejected the argument from Trump's lawyers and allies that Democrats want to impeach him because they want to shut down a political opponent and don't want to compete against him in another election.
"You know, I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose, because he can do this again," Lieu said.
As the impeachment trial began its third day, Senate Republicans say that Trump's impeachment trial could conclude as soon as Saturday, reported The Hill.
"Saturday is looking better all the time, I would think, for a final vote," said Senator Roy Blunt, a member of GOP leadership, told reporters.
Trump is undergoing the trial for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol last week. However, the upper chamber in the Congress is unlikely to secure the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump that would bar him from holding office again.
However, only six Republicans voted that the trial itself was constitutional earlier this year. The Senate determined on Tuesday on a 56-to-44 vote that it has jurisdiction to try former the president.
Trump's lawyers have urged the Senate to dismiss as unconstitutional and "self-evidently wrong" allegations that their client had a role in the attack on the Capitol by his loyalists who sought to prevent the congressional certification of his loss to Joe Biden.
( With inputs from ANI )
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